There are two really good reasons to check out this YouTube video.

Firstly, it reveals that Denmark is the happiest place on Earth. Blue Zones has surveyed hundreds of thousands of people around the world and it seems that Danes are just really happy - not just at the time of asking, but with life in general. Which, if you live in Denmark, may be enough to make you forget about the weather for a while.

Secondly, it’s a great example of comments becoming more interesting than the piece they are commenting on. When I checked, 106 comments had been left - and the debate is raging as to why Danes are so happy, and whether they really should be. It’s fascinating reading. But be warned: not everyone is happy for the Danes…

A while ago we had a company meeting outlining our goals for 2008. They were divided up into Business, Brand and Work goals. One of our Work goals this year is to do more high-profile projects with premium companies with the aim of having more fun.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing with FLSmidth. Our retainer agreement with FLSmidth means we get involved in some really interesting projects, work with many different departments in the company as their copywriting resource ‘on tap’, and essentially be an extension to the marketing department.

Working with the guys at FLSmidth means we are getting closer as a team, united in our efforts to ensure their international communications carry world-class messages.

Check out our press release to find out more.

What do Shakespeare and big businesses have in common? ‘Tis the ability to use beautiful metaphors to capture the audience’s heart and mind, of course.

Check out this great article about using metaphors to make your business communications as irresistible as a ______ (fill in the blank with something you find irresistible). I loved the point about remembering that even if you’re speaking to one individual, you’re always communicating with two different “people”: the right brain and the left brain.

When our clients ask us to work on concepts for, say, new ad campaigns, we work hard to come up with something that captures the heart and the mind. How can you capture the heart with a new IT system, you ask? By appealing to the listener’s emotional side - particularly by creating a mental image they can relate to and be pleasantly surprised by.

We all have it in us. It’s just a matter of training that creative muscle - and knowing when to use it.

I hate supermarket shopping. The aisles are always crowded. I have trouble finding the things I want. There’s always someone who wants to jam their trolley right up my behind. The overhead florescent lighting is too bright (I guess that says something about my Saturday mornings, or rather, Friday nights). I could go on. But the worst thing is how stressy it gets when I put my shopping on the belt at the checkout.

The nicely firm avocados, perfectly round tomatoes and painfully-fragile bouquet of flowers are thrown down the chute - along with bulky apples, the sharp-cornered carton of milk and a nice bottle of wine that just rolls down over everything like a boulder, crashing to a halt at the potatoes.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no. Then I have to cram everything into my bags as quickly as possible, packing the awkward heavy items on top of the light, squashy things. If I don’t do this quickly enough, my shopping will be relegated to the smaller, secondary chute where it all gets siphoned off and compressed together by a big metal bar. Then the process starts all over again for the next psyched customer.

So imagine my delight when I see that Danish supermarket chain, Føtex (or Funtex as I like to call it) is advertising that they will pack my shopping for me on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Although I don’t shop at Føtex that often (I suppose you guessed that already), this new service is pulling me closer to them. I’m going to check them out.

When a company offers pretty much the same as everybody else, it’s excellent customer service that makes them stand out from the rest. By introducing an intuitive customer retention programme (I expect Føtex to introduce a club card soon, if they haven’t done so already), you’re locking people onto your brand. And, unless you do something really stupid, you’ve got them for life.

I feel quite excited that I could be witnessing somewhat of a revolution in Danish supermarket customer service. It’ll be interesting to see how the other chains respond - and what the marketing executives at Føtex have up their sleeves.